Tornado causes damage, injures three in Birmingham, Alabama

A tornado struck Birmingham, Alabama, on Friday, damaging houses, uprooting trees and injuring at least three people in the state’s largest city, law enforcement and weather officials said.

National Weather Service meteorologist Jody Aaron said the twister was confirmed to have touched down in the southwestern portion of town at about 5 p.m. Central time, (2300 GMT), adding, “There does appear to be some significant damage.”

Birmingham Police Lieutenant Sean Edwards said at least three people were taken to hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

Edwards said several houses were damaged, trees were toppled and power was knocked out in the area, but he could provide no further information.

Images published online by local media outlets showed lawns scattered with debris from what appeared to be homes and some collapsed structures.

Alabama has been hit with storms and heavy rain since Wednesday, and the Weather Service issued flash flood warnings around the region for Friday.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Steve Gorman and Dan Grebler)